David J. Berndt

Depression and Self-Actualization in Gifted Adolescents.

Administered the Multiscore Depression Inventory and the Personal Orientation Inventory to 248 academically gifted adolescents drawn from across the state of South Carolina to participate in a select program. Low but significant correlations were noted among several of the scales. Factor analysis of the scales of both instruments resulted in five factors for females and six for males. In both samples the first two factors accounted for more than half the variance. Gifted students who were not self-actualizing types were more depressed, and their pattern of scores revealed that guilt, low self-esteem, learned helplessness, and cognitive difficulty were important symptoms. The gifted adolescents, on the whole, tended to be more socially introverted.

Relationship of mild depression to psychological deficit in college students

Twenty-five mildly depressed and 25 nondepressed college students, identified on the basis of their scores on two self-report depression measures, were distinguished by a discriminant analysis of their scores on six measures of psychological deficit. The significant function correctly identified 88% of the nondepressed group of 92% of the mildly depressed group with four variables: Paired easy associates, a digit symbol test, a writing speed task, and Neckar Cube reversals. A measure of short term memory and paired hard associates did not load on the discriminant function. Results were interpreted as suggestive evidence that mild depression is associated with a deficit in energy during both initial preceptual processing, and organization and execution of psychomotor tasks.

Attributional Styles for Helplessness and Depression: The Importance of Sex and Situational Context

Differences between the sexes in attributions for positive and negative outcomes in either affiliative or achievement situations were examined using the Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ). Separate regression analyses for each sex related the ASQ to a measure of helplessness and the Beck Depression Inventory. No differences were noted for attributions to internality or stability; however, females attributed more global causality to positive outcome affiliative situations and negative outcome achievement situations. Regression analyses failed to support the helplessness attributional model of depression. No ratings on the ASQ predicted depression for males; furthermore, for females, only the internal/external dimension was relevant, moderated by both outcome and type of situation. Sex differences were discussed in light of the higher incidence of depression among females.

How Valid Are the Subscales of the Multiscore Depression Inventory

Investigated subscales of the Multiscore Depression Inventory for construct and concurrent validity. A hierarchical cluster analysis based on the responses of 263 students provided support for the construct validity of Irritability, Energy Level, Guilt, Instrumental Helplessness, Social Introversion, and Cognitive Difficulty. The separation of Low Self-Esteem and Pessimism was supported only partially, while Learned Helplessness and Sad Mood combined in a single cluster. The graph-theoretic advantages of the cluster analysis permitted speculation about the relationship among the subscales. Factor-analytic examination of the same data demonstrated comparable evidence of construct validity for most scales. Concurrent validity was demonstrated on a sample of 89 students, with significant relationships obtained for all subscales with respective criterion measures, with the exception of Learned Helplessness, which had a low, but significant, correlation with its criterion. Discriminant validity was demonstrated by low correlations between the subscales and socially desirable responses.

An Exploration of Some Reliability Results for the Multiscore Depression Inventory

Data from the Multiscore Depression Inventory and its 10 subscales were analyzed for test-retest and Kuder-Richardson reliabilities. The test-retest indicated that the generally adequate reliabilities obtained for the scales on the Charleston sample were comparable to those obtained in Chicago. The .71 reliability of the instrumental helplessness subscale, however, was substantially better than that in the previous study, indicating that it may yet be useful as a measure of a relatively stable rather than a transient construct. The Kuder-Richardson reliabilities increased for nine of the subscales at retest, a result which led to a post hoc analysis implicating both mortality and effects of repeated testing, e.g., memory, consistency motivation, as possible causes of increased consistency.